Introduction

Who is this book for?

Business Vocabulary in Use is designed to help intermediate and upper-intermediate learners of business English improve their business vocabulary. It is for people studying English before they start work and for those already working who need English in their job.

Apart from improving your business vocabulary, the book also helps you to develop the language needed for important business communication skills.

You can use the book on your own for self-study, or with a teacher in the classroom, one-to-one or in groups.

How is the book organised?

The book has 66 two-page units.

The first 46 of these units are thematic and look at the vocabulary of business areas such as people, organisations, production, marketing, finance and business-related economics.

The other 20 units focus on the language of skills you need in business, such as those for presentations, meetings, telephoning and negotiations.

The left-hand page of each unit explains new words and expressions, and the right- hand page allows you to check and develop your understanding of them and how they are used through a series of exercises.

There is cross-referencing between units to show connections between the same word or similar words used in different contexts.

There is an answer key at the back of the book. Most of the exercises have questions with only one correct answer. But some of the exercises, including the Over to you activities at the end of each section (see below), are designed for writing and/or discussion about yourself and your own organisation.

There is also an index. This lists all the new words and phrases introduced in the book and gives the unit numbers where they appear. The index also tells you how the words and expressions are pronounced.

The left-hand page

This page introduces new vocabulary and expressions for each thematic or skills area. The presentation is divided into a number of sections indicated by letters: A, B, C, etc, with simple, clear titles.

As well as explanations of vocabulary, there is information about typical word combinations and the grammar associated with particular vocabulary, for example the verbs that are typically used with particular nouns.

There are notes on mistakes to avoid, for example:

• You can’t say that someone is 'a responsible'.

There are also notes about differences between British and American English.

• BrE: CV; AmE: resume or resume

The right-hand page

The exercises on the right-hand page give practice in using the new vocabulary and expressions presented on the left-hand page. Sometimes the exercises concentrate on using the words or expressions presented on the left-hand page in context. Other exercises practise the grammatical forms of items from the left-hand page. Some units contain diagrams to complete, or crosswords.

‘Over to you' sections

An important feature of Business Vocabulary in Use is the Over to you section at the end of each unit. There are sometimes alternative Over to you sections, for learners who are in work and those who are not. The Over to you sections give you the chance to put into practice the words and expressions in the unit in relation to your own professional situation, studies or opinions.

Self-study learners can do this section as a written activity.

In the classroom, the Over to you sections can be used as the basis for discussion with the whole class, or in small groups with a spokesperson for each group summarising the discussion and its outcome for the class. The teacher can then get students to look again at the exercises relating to points that have caused difficulty. Students can follow up by using the Over to you section as a written activity, for example as homework.

How to use the book for self-study

Find the topic you are looking by referring to the contents page or the index. Read through the explanations on the left-hand page of the unit. Do the exercises on the right-hand page. Check your answers in the key. If you have made some mistakes, go back and look at the explanations and exercise again. Note down important words and expressions in your notebook.

How to use the book in the classroom

Teachers can choose units that relate to students’ particular needs and interests, for example areas they have covered in course books, or that have come up in other activities. Alternatively, lessons can contain a regular vocabulary slot, where students look systematically at the vocabulary of particular thematic or skills areas.

Students can work on the units in pairs, with the teacher going round the class assisting and advising. Teachers should get students to think about the logical process of the exercises, pointing out why one answer is possible and others are not.

We hope you enjoy using this book.

Work and jobs

What do you do?

To find out what someone’s job is you say ‘What do you do?’ Here, Kerstin talks about her job:

‘I work for a large European car maker. I work on car design. In fact, I run the design department and I manage a team of designers: 20 people work under me. It’s very interesting. One of my main responsibilities is to make sure that new model designs are finished on time. I’m also in charge of design budgets.

I deal with a lot of different people in the company. I’m responsible for co-ordination between design and production: I work with managers at our manufacturing plants.’

Note:

in charge of L noun responsible for J verb + -ing

responsibility + infinitive or -ing

One of my responsibilities is to make sure ...

One of my responsibilities is making sure ...

You can’t say I’m a responsible.

Word combinations with 'work'

If you work or have work, you have a job. But you don’t say that someone has a work. Work is also the place where you do your job.

Here are some phrases with ‘work’:

Hi, I’m Frank. I work in a bank in New York City. I leave for work at 7.30 every morning.

I go to work by train and subway.

I get to / arrive at work at about nine.

I’m usually at work till six.

Luckily, I don’t get ill very much so I’m not often off work.

The economy is growing fast and more people are in work than ever before. The percentage of people out of work has fallen to its lowest level for 30 years.

You don’t say, for example, Pm- at the work or I’m going to the work.

Types of job and types of work

A full-time job is for the whole of the normal working week; a part-time job is for less time than that.

You say that someone works full-time or part-time.

A permanent job does not finish after a fixed period; a temporary job finishes after a fixed period. You talk about temporary work and permanent work.

1. Pierre is talking about his work. Correct what he says.

1. work for a French supermarket company. (1)1 work about the development of new supermarkets. (2) In fact, I running the development department and (3) I am manage for a team looking at the possibilities in different countries. It’s very interesting. (4) One of my main is to make sure that new supermarkets open on time. (5) I’m also charged with financial reporting. (6)1 deal at a lot of different organizations in my work. (7) I’m responsible of planning projects from start to finish. (8)1 work closely near our foreign partners, and so I travel a lot.

2. Complete the text with one of the prepositions from B opposite.

Rebecca lives in London and works in public relations. She leaves

home for work at 7.30 am. She drives (1) work.

The traffic is often bad and she worries about getting

2. ) work late, but she usually arrives

3. ) work at around nine. She finishes work

quite late, at about eight. ‘Luckily, I’m never ill,’ she says.

‘I could never take the time (4) work.’

She loves what she does and is glad to be (5)

work. Some of her friends are not so lucky: they are

6. work.

3. Write about each person using words from C opposite, and the words in brackets. The first one has been done for you.

1. I’m Alicia. I work in a public library in the afternoons from two until six. (I/job) I Wave, a. par+—bVne. job.

2. My husband works in an office from 9 am to 5.30 pm. (he/job)

3. Our daughter works in a bank from eight till five every day. (she/work)

4. I’m David and I work in a café from 8 pm until midnight. (I/work)

5. My wife works in local government and she can have this job for as long as she wants it. (she/job)

6. Our son is working on a farm for four weeks, (he/job)

7. Our daughter is working in an office for three weeks, (she/work)

j— ;

If you work ... If you don't work ...

What do you do? What are you in charge What sort of job would you like to do?

of? What are your responsibilities? What routine would you like to have?

What time do you leave for work? How long does it take you to get to work?

What time do you arrive at work? Do you take a lot of time off work?

Ways of working

Old and new ways

I’m an office worker in an insurance company. It’s a nine-to-five job with regular working hours. The work isn’t very interesting, but I like to be able to go home at a reasonable time.

We all have to clock in and clock out every day. In this company, even the managers have to, which is unusual!

Note: You also say clock on and clock off.

BrE: flexitime AmE: flextime

I’m in computer programming. There’s a system of flexitime in my company, which means we can work when we want, within certain limits. We can start at any time before eleven, and finish as early as three, as long as we do enough hours each month. It’s ideal for me as I have two young children.

1. Clocking in

   work in a car plant. I work in shifts. I may be on the day shift one week and the night shift the next week. It’s difficult changing from one shift to another. When I change shifts, I have problems changing to a new routine for sleeping and eating.

I’m a commercial artist in an advertising agency. I work in a big city, but I prefer living in the country, so

1. commute to work every day, like thousands of other commuters. Working from home using a computer and the Internet is becoming more and more popular, and the agency is introducing this: it’s called teleworking or telecommuting. But I like going into the office and working with other people around me.

Nice work if you can get it

All these words are used in front of ‘job’ and ‘work’:

• satisfying, stimulating, fascinating, exciting: the work is interesting and gives you positive feelings.

• dull, boring, uninteresting, unstimulating: the work is not interesting.

• repetitive, routine: the work involves doing the same things again and again.

• tiring, tough, hard, demanding: the work is difficult and makes you tired.

Nature of work

My work involves ...

human contact long hours team work

+ -mg

solving problems travelling a lot dealing with customers

1. Which person (1-5) is most likely to do each of the five things (a-e)?

1. A software designer in an Internet company. Has to be in the office.

2. An office worker in a large, traditional manufacturing company.

3. A manager in a department store in a large city. Lives in the country.

4. A construction worker on a building site where work goes on 24 hours a day.

5. A technical writer for a city computer company. Lives in the country.

a work in shifts

b work under a flexitime system c telecommute d commute to work

e clock on and off at the same time every day

2. Look at the words and expressions in B and C opposite.

Five people talk about their jobs. Match the jobs (1-5) to the people (a-e) and put the words in brackets into the correct grammatical forms.

1. accountant

2. postwoman

3. flight attendant

4. software developer

5. teacher

a Obviously, my work involves (travel) a lot. It can be quite

physically (tire), but I enjoy (deal) with

customers, except when they become violent. Luckily this doesn’t happen often.

b I like (work) with figures, but my job is much less (bore)

and routine than people think. The work (involve) a lot of human

contact and teamwork, working with other managers, c Of course, it involves getting up quite early in the morning. But I like

(be) out in the open air. And I get a lot of exercise!

d You’ve got to think in a very logical way. The work can be mentally

(tire), but it’s very satisfying to write a program that works.

e I love my job. It’s very (stimulate) and not at all

(repeat): no two days are the same. It’s good to see the children

learn and develop.

Over +o ipu

If you work ...

If you don't work ...

Do you have a nine-to-five job?

Do you have to clock on and off? Is there a flexitime system in your organization? Are there people who do shiftwork in your company?

Could you do your job working from home? If so, would you like to?

What sort of working hours would you like to have if you worked?

Would you like to work from home?

Recruitment and selection

Recruitment

The process of finding people for particular jobs is recruitment or, especially in American English, hiring. Someone who has been recruited is a recruit or, in American English, a hire. The company employs or hires them; they join the company. A company may recruit employees directly or use outside recruiters, recruitment agencies or employment agencies. Outside specialists called headhunters may be called on to headhunt people for very important jobs, persuading them to leave the organizations they already work for. This process is called headhunting.

Applying for a job

Fred is a van driver, but he was fed up with long trips. He looked in the situations vacant pages of his local newspaper, where a local supermarket was advertising for van drivers for a new delivery service. He applied for the job by completing an application form and sending it in.

BrE: CV; AmE: resume or resume BrE: covering letter; AmE: cover letter

Harry is a building engineer. He saw a job in the appointments pages of one of the national papers. He made an application, sending in his CV (curriculum vitae - the ‘story’ of his working life) and a covering letter explaining why he wanted the job and why he was the right person for it.

Note: Situation, post and position are formal words often used in job advertisements and applications.

A job interview

Selection procedures

Dagmar Schmidt is the head of recruitment at a German telecommunications company. She talks about the selection process, the methods that the company uses to recruit people:

‘We advertise in national newspapers. We look at the backgrounds of applicants: their experience of different jobs and their educational qualifications. We don’t ask for handwritten letters of application as people usually apply by email; handwriting analysis belongs to the 19th century.

We invite the most interesting candidates to a group discussion. Then we have individual interviews with each candidate. We also ask the candidates to do written psychometric tests to assess their intelligence and personality.

heir references by it candidates have ;k the candidates to someone, and if they lire them. We only

After this, we shortlist three or four candidates. We check I writing to their referees: previous employers or teachers th; named in their applications. If the references are OK, we a: come back for more interviews. Finally, we offer the job to turn it down we have to think again. If they accept it, we \ appoint someone if we find the right person.’

1. Complete the crossword. Use appropriate forms of words from A, B and C opposite.

Across

5. I phoned to check on my application, but they said

they’d already

someone. (9)

5. This job is so important, I

think we need to

someone. (8)

8. The selection process has lasted three months, but

we’re going to

someone next week. (7)

Down

1. and 2 I hope she ,

because if she

the job, we’ll have to start looking again. (7,5,4)

3. That last applicant was very strong, but I understand he’s had two other already. (6)

4. They’ve finally a

new receptionist. (5)

5. Computer programmers wanted. Only those with UNIX experience should

(5)

2. Now divide the words in 3.1 into two groups:

1. what a company personnel department does.

2. what a person looking for work does.

3. Replace the underlined phrases with correct forms of words and expressions from A, B and C opposite.

Fred had already (1) refused two job offers when he went for (2) a discussion to see if he was suitable for the job. They looked at his driving licence and contacted (3) previous employers Fred had mentioned in his application. A few days later, the supermarket (4) asked him if he would like the iob and Fred (5) said yes.

Harry didn’t hear anything for six weeks, so he phoned the company. They told him that they had received a lot of (6) requests for the iob. After looking at the (7) life stories of the (8) people asking for the iob and looking at (9) what exams they had passed during their education, the company (10) had chosen six people to interview, done tests on their personality and intelligence and they had then given someone the job.

If you work ...

How did you get your job? Was it advertised? Were you interviewed for it? Was the selection process very long?

If you don't work ...

Have you applied for any jobs? Were you interviewed? How did it go? What's the usual process for getting your first job in your country?

Skills and qualifications

Graduates

Education and training

Margareta: The trouble with graduates, people who’ve just left university, is that their paper qualifications are good, but they have no work experience. They just don’t know how business works.

Nils: I disagree. Education should teach people how to think, not prepare them for a particular job. One of last year’s recruits had graduated from Oxford in philosophy and she’s doing very well!

Margareta: Philosophy’s an interesting subject, but for our company, it’s more useful if you train as a scientist and qualify as a biologist or chemist - training for a specific job is better.

In AmE, you also say that someone graduates from high school (the school that people usually leave when they are 18).

Nils: Yes, but we don’t just need scientists. We also need good managers, which we can achieve through in-house training courses within the company. You know we have put a lot of money into management development and management training because they are very important. You need to have some management experience for that. It’s not the sort of thing you can learn when you’re 20!

Skilled and unskilled

A skill is the ability to do something well, especially because you have learned how to do it and practised it.

Jobs, and the people who do them, can be described as:

highly skilled skilled semi-skilled unskilled

(e.g. car designer) (e.g. car production manager) (e.g. taxi driver) (e.g. car cleaner)

You can say that someone is:

skilled at, or skilled in

figures

people

+ noun customer care electronics computer software

+ -ing

communicating using PCs

working with large groups

You can also say that someone is : computers

good with ...

The right person

These words are often used in job advertisements. Companies look for people who are:

• self-starters, proactive, self-motivated, or self-driven: good at working on their own.

• methodical, systematic and organized: can work in a planned, orderly way.

• computer-literate: good with computers.

• numerate: good with numbers.

• motivated: very keen to do well in their job.

• talented: naturally very good at what they do.

• team players: people who work well with other people.

1. Correct these sentences about Ravi, using words from A opposite.

One word is wrong in each item.

1. At 18, Ravi decided to stay in full-time training and went to Mumbai University.

2. Ravi qualified three years later with a degree in philosophy and politics.

3. He taught for a while, but didn’t like it. He decided to educate as an accountant at evening classes.

4. He qualified for an accountant and joined a big accountancy firm in its Mumbai office.

5. When he started, he needed to develop other skills, which would come through experiments.

6. He received managers’ training to help him develop these skills.

2. Are these jobs generally considered to be highly skilled, skilled, semi-skilled,

or unskilled? Each expression is used twice.

1. teacher 5 office cleaner

2. brain surgeon 6 labourer (someone doing basic work on a building site)

3. car worker on a production line 7 bus driver

4. airline pilot 8 office manager

   3. Complete these extracts from job advertisements using words from C opposite.

El 27

ANGRY SCENES AS MEMBERS REJECT 35

(1) 35

0m?" 57

. & S s 57

Shift down a gear to find a sweeter ^mLifetype 97

I don’t know how to chair a meeting! 119

We're looking for someone who can work on ten projects at once. You must

be ,

and

If you work ...

What sort of people does your organization look for in its recruitment? What sort of person are you?

We need journalists

who are very good at their job and

extremely to find

out as much as ttiey can.

You’ll be researching developments on the

Internet, so you have to be

You must be ,

able to work on your own initiative, and a

. But as part of a team

of researchers, you need to be a good

too.

If you don't work ...

Does your educational institution prepare people for specific jobs?

Pay and benefits

Wages, salary and benefits

My name’s Luigi and I’m a hotel manager in Venice. I get paid a salary every month. In summer we’re very busy, so we work a lot of extra hours, or overtime; the money for this is quite good. Working in a hotel, we also get nice perks, for example free meals!

I’m Ivan and I work as a waiter in Prague. I like my job even if I don’t earn very much: I get paid wages every week by the restaurant. We get the minimum wage: the lowest amount allowed by law. But we also get tips, money that customers leave for us in addition to the bill. Some tourists are very generous!

I’m Catherine and I’m a saleswoman based in Paris. I get a basic salary, plus commission: a percentage on everything I sell. If I sell more than a particular amount in a year, I also get extra money - a bonus, which is nice. There are some good fringe benefits with this job: I get a company car, and they make payments for my pension, money that I’ll get regularly after I stop working. All that makes a good benefits package.

Compensation 1

My name’s Alan. I’m a specialist in pay and benefits. Compensation and remuneration are formal words used to talk about pay and benefits, especially those of senior managers. Compensation package and remuneration package are used especially in the US to talk about all the pay and benefits that employees receive. For a senior executive, this may include share options (BrE) or stock options (AmE): the right to buy the company’s shares at low prices. (See Unit 36) There may be performance-related bonuses if the manager reaches particular objectives for the company.

Compensation 2

Compensation is also used to talk about money and other benefits that a senior manager (or any employee) receives if they are forced to leave the organization, perhaps after a boardroom row. This money is in the form of a compensation payment, or severance payment. If the manager also receives benefits, the payment and the benefits form a severance package.

In Britain, executives with very high pay and good benefits may be referred to as fat cats, implying that they do not deserve this level of remuneration.

Xavier and Yvonne are talking about Xavier’s new job as a photocopier salesman.

Complete the conversation, using words from A opposite.

1. X: I get paid every month.

Y: I see. You get a salary , not wages.

2. X: I usually have to work late: I don’t get paid for it, but I get a percentage for every photocopier I sell.

Y: So you don’t get , but you do get That’s good.

3. X: The people in production get a if they reach their targets.

Y: Oh right. They get an extra payment for producing a certain amount.

4. X: The company pays for medical treatment too, and the company restaurant is fantastic. Y: Wow! The sound very nice.

5. X: And they’ve given me a to go and visit clients.

Y: So you don’t have to buy a car, then.

6. X: What’s more, the company pays in money for us to get when we don’t work any more. Y: Yes, it’s important to get a good

7. X: The total is brilliant.

Y: Yes, all that extra stuff is really worth having.

5.2

Which expressions from B and C opposite could be used to continue each of these newspaper extracts?

MEGAFONE CEO GETS £10 MILLION ‘THANK YOU’ AFTER TAKEOVER

(1 possible expression)

FAILED AIRLINE BOSS GETS MASSIVE PAYOUT

Shareholders are angry that despite very poor results, Blighty Airlines’ CEO, Mr Rob Herring, is leaving with £3 million in his pocket. They say it is ridiculous to ‘reward’ bad performance with this sort of...

(2 possible expressions)

The directors of Megafone, the world’s largest mobile phone company, yesterday voted to give Mr Chris Ladyman, its chief executive, a special payment of £10 mil­lion for negotiating the com­pany’s takeover of Minnemann. The directors referred to this as a ...

MULTILEVER’S EXECUTIVE PAY

It was today revealed that Mr Carl Lang, head of consumer foods giant Multilever, earns a basic salary of $22 million with stock options potentially worth an additional $10 million. Other payments bring to $35 million his total ...

(2 possible expressions)

ANGRY SHAREHOLDERS ATTACK EXECUTIVE PAY

' National Energy’s shareholders yesterday attacked the directors of the company for paying themselves too ^; much. Profits fell by 30 per cent last year, but directors are being paid 30 per cent more. ‘They should be paid 30 per cent less,’ said one shareholder. ‘These people

1. are just...’ |

(1 possible expression)

Do you think top executives are too highly paid? Or do they deserve what they earn?

People and workplaces

Employees and management

white-collar workers

I

supervisor _shopf|_oor I

I

S labour

| manual/blue-collar workers

\ Al ,

V <t

I il il ai '-"ii¹

The people who work for a company, all the people on its payroll, are its employees, personnel, staff, workers or workforce. But these words can mean just the people carrying out the work of a company, rather than those leading it and organizing it: the management.

An open-plan office

Note: Workforce, work-force and work force are all possible.

Management and administration

A company’s activities may be spread over different sites.

A company’s most senior managers usually work in its head

office or headquarters (HQ). Some managers have their own

individual offices, but in many businesses, most employees

work in open-plan offices: large areas where many people

work together. Administration or, informally, admin, the

everyday work supporting a company’s activities, is often

done in offices like these by administrative staff or support

staff. For example, those giving technical help to buyers of

the company’s products are in technical support.

Labour

Labour is spelled labor in AmE. Labor unions, organizations defending the interests of workers (AmE) are called trade unions in BrE.

When workers are not happy with pay or conditions, they may take industrial action:

• a strike, stoppage or walk-out: workers stop working for a time.

• a go-slow: workers continue to work, but more slowly than usual.

• an overtime ban: workers refuse to work more than the normal number of hours.

Personnel and human resources

In larger organizations there is a human resources department (HRD) that deals with pay, recruitment, etc. This area is called human resources (HR) or human resource management (HRM). Another name for this department is the personnel department.

1. Look at A, B and C opposite to find the answers to the crossword.

5 The place in a factory where the production lines are. (4, 5) 9 When people stop work to complain about something. (8) 16 and 12 When workers intentionally produce less. (2,4)

Across

2. and 17 Office workers may wear this. (5,6)

5. All the people working for a company. (5)

7 workers use

their hands. (6)

8. When people stop working to protest. (6)

10. One of the people working for an organization. (8)

11. Occasions when workers stop working to protest: walk- (4)

13. Another name for the human resources department. (9)

14. Workers seen as a group. (6)

18 and 15 down Various forms of protest at work. (10,6)

										1					2
			3			4		5
													8
9
						10
															11			12
13										14	15
				16
			17
										18

Down

1. Everyone working for a company is on this. (7)

2. Everyone, or everyone except top managers. (9)

3. These are trade in the UK and labor in the US. (6)

4. and 17 across Manual workers may wear this. (4,6)

2. Manuel Ortiz is the founder of a Spanish computer sales company. Use the words in B and D opposite to complete what he says about it.

1. founded Computadoras Creativas 20 years ago. We started with a small

(1) in Madrid. Our (2) , our (3)

is still here, but now we have sites all over Spain, with about 500 employees. Many

of the offices are (4) - : everyone works together, from managers to

(5) , as well as people selling over the phone, and

people in technical (6) giving help to customers over the phone.

Recruitment is taken care of in Madrid, by the (7)

or (8) .

Ov&r -fo ipu

Think about the company you work for or one you would like to work for.

Where is its head office? How many sites does the company have? How many employees? Is it better to have everyone on one site or to have different sites with different activities? Do people have their own offices or are there open-plan offices?

Which type do you / would you prefer to work in?

The career ladder

A job for life

Many people used to work for the same organization until they reached retirement: the age at which people retire, or end their working life. Career paths were clear: you could work your way up the career ladder, getting promotion to jobs that were more senior, with greater responsibility. You would probably not be demoted: moved to a less senior job.

To leave the company, you could resign or hand in your notice.

Modco before

*

, L_

A job for now

tk

I ¹ 1 1 ¹ ,

ttt fM Mf

_1_

1 ¹ 1 ¹ 1 ¹ 1 ¹ 1 ¹ 1

ktktt 'kktkk ktkt'k khtkt kktkt * k'kt

Modco after

X X

I ¹ 1 1—^—,

tikt i'ti tH kfrk

I I I ¹ r I ' -¹ 1

ttttt tktkk ktJit'k kktkt kktkt kkfti

Modco has downsized and delayered. The number of management levels in the company hierarchy has been reduced from five to three, and many managers have lost their jobs. Modco has reorganized and restructured in order to become flatter (with fewer layers of management) and leaner (with fewer, more productive employees).

They did this to reduce costs, and increase efficiency and profits.

Employees said the company used words like ‘restructure’ to make the situation sound positive and acceptable.

In-house staff or freelancers?

Modco has outsourced many jobs previously done by in-house personnel: outside companies clean the offices, transport goods and collect money from customers. This allows Modco to concentrate on its main business activities. Modco uses more freelancers, independent people who may work for several different companies, and they employ people for short periods on temporary contracts. Modco expects flexibility, with people moving to different jobs when necessary, but for many employees, this means job insecurity, the feeling that they may not be in their job for long. The way that they are doing their job is discussed at performance reviews: regular meetings with their manager.

Note: You say freelancers or freelances.

If you’ve done nothing wrong, you are ...

• laid off

• made redundant

• offered early retirement

Losing your job

If you do something wrong, you are

• dismissed

• fired

• sacked

• terminated

Employees who are made redundant may get advice about finding another job, retraining, etc. This is called outplacement advice.

1. Complete the tables with forms of words from A, B and C opposite. You may wish to refer to a dictionary.

Adjective

retire	seniority
demotion	freelance
lay-off	redundancy
dismiss	insecure
terminate	flexible

2. Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings (a-e). The sentences all contain words from A and B opposite.

El 27

ANGRY SCENES AS MEMBERS REJECT 35

(1) 35

0m?" 57

. & S s 57

Shift down a gear to find a sweeter ^mLifetype 97

I don’t know how to chair a meeting! 119

3. Carla used to work for an Italian magazine publishing company. She talks about how she lost her job. Choose the correct form of the words in brackets to complete the text.

Edizione Fenice is a big magazine publishing company, and a very nice company to work for. I was director of a magazine called Casa e Giardino.

Then, Fenice was bought by an international publishing group. We had to

have regular performance (1) (review/reviews/reviewer) with

one of the new managers. After a few months they started laying staff

2. ) (off/on/out). Our own journalists were put on temporary

3. ) (contracts/contractual/contracting) or replaced by

4. ) (freelancer/freelancers/freelanced).

Then they started (5) (laid/lying/laying) off more senior people like me.The new

owners said they wanted to make the company (6) (flat/flatter/flatten) and

(7) (lean/leant/leaner). So I was made (8)

(redundant/redundancies/redundancy). They offered to help me to find another job with (9) (outplacement/outplaced/outplacing) advice, but I refused.

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If you work ...

Do you have performance reviews? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Has your organization been restructured? What aspects of the business does your company outsource?

If you don't work ...

Would you prefer a job for life or a more flexible career? Would you like regular performance reviews?

Problems at work

Health and safety

Here are some health and safety issues for people at work.

a temperature b passive c repetitive strain d dangerous e hazardous

smoking injury or RSI machinery substances

f fire hazards

All these things contribute to a bad working environment. The government sends officials called health and safety inspectors to make sure that factories and offices are safe places to work. They check what companies are doing about things like:

g heating and air-conditioning

i fire precautions

El

h first aid

Bullying and harassment

If someone such as a manager bullies an employee, they use their position of power to hurt or threaten them, for example verbally. Someone who does this is a bully.

Sexual harassment is when an employee behaves sexually towards another in a way that they find unwelcome and unacceptable. The related verb is harass.

Discrimination

If people are treated differently from others in an unfair way, they are discriminat­ed against.

If a woman is unfairly treated just because she is a woman, she is a victim of sex discrimination. In many organizations, women complain about the glass ceiling that allows them to get to a particular level but no further.

If someone is treated unfairly because of their race, they are a victim of racial dis­crimination or racism. Offensive remarks about someone’s race are racist and the person making them is a racist.

In the US, affirmative action is when help is given in education and employment to groups who were previously discriminated against. In Britain, affirmative action is known as equal opportunities.

Some companies have a dignity at work policy covering all the issues described in B and C.

There’s all this waste paper but there are' no fire extinguishers in the building.

The containers are leaking - one day someone is going to get acid burns.

My doctor says there’s something wrong with my lungs, but I’ve never smoked

^z f I do a lot of data entry, and I’ve started V getting really bad pains in my wrists.

^ /It’s either too cold and we freeze, or \too hot and we all fall asleep. .

\r—

1. / There are no safety guards on the machines; you could easily get your hand caught.

2. Complete these headlines and articles with the correct form of words from B and C opposite. One expression is used twice.

1

OFFICE MANAGER ACCUSED OF

A court heard today how an office worker was almost driven to suicide by a bullying office manager. James Blenkinsop, 27, told how boss Nigel Kemp victimized him by shouting at him, criticizing his work in front of others, tearing up his work and telling him to do it again ...

SHOP MANAGERESS IN CASE

A clothing shop’s half-Burmese manageress, 24-year-old Marion Brown, claims her boss continually

made remarks, and sacked her

from her £ 110-a-week job when she objected. She claims that the company

that owns the shop has racially

against her...

NATIONAL RESTAURANT CHAIN FACES CLAIMS

Four waitresses claim they were repeatedly

by male bosses in a branch of a well-known national restaurant chain. All four waitresses said they were subjected to sexist remarks at the restaurant...

Japanese women break through

Naomi Tanaka, 23, last year started working on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as a trader. She complained

about and said she did not want to

be a ‘counter lady’ answering phones and serving tea at a Japanese bank. Instead she got a job as a trader at Paribas, a French firm ... ABOLISHED AT TEXAS LAW SCHOOL

A court made affirmative action at the University of Texas law school illegal last

year, and supporters of

say it has been 'a disaster'. Last year the law school admitted a class that was 5.9 per cent black and 6.3 per cent Hispanic. This year the black percentage stands at 0.7 and the Hispanic at 2.3 ...

Over ko ipu

What are the main health and safety issues in your job, or a job that you would like to do?

All the directors together are the board. They meet in the boardroom.

Managers, executives and directors

Managers and executives: UK

Fun and Sun Holidays management organigram

Non-executive directors are not managers of the company; they are outsiders, often directors of other companies who have particular knowledge of the industry or of particular areas.

The marketing director is the head of marketing, the IT director is the head of IT, etc. These people head or head up their departments. Informally, the head of an activity, a department or an organization is its boss.

An executive or, informally, an exec, is usually a manager at quite a high level (for example, a senior executive). But ‘executive’ can be used in other contexts to suggest luxury, as in ‘executive coach’ and ‘executive home’, even for things that are not actually used by executives.

Managers and executives: US

president chief executive officer (CEO) chief operating officer (COO)
	j— non-executive directors |
; chief financial officer (CFO) vice president (VP) marketing vice president (VP) human resources vice president (VP) research	senior executives / top executives / executive directors

In the US, the top position may be that of chairman, chairwoman or president.

This job is often combined with the position of chief executive officer or CEO.

Some companies have a chief operating officer to take care of the day-to-day running of the company. The finance director may be called the chief financial officer.

In the US, senior managers in charge of particular areas are often called vice presidents (VPs).

Look at the managers listed in A opposite. Match each task (1-6) to the manager most likely to be responsible for doing it.

1. Meet with advertising agency to discuss new advertisements for the company’s holidays.

2. Study possible new holiday destinations in detail.

3. See the research director to discuss new holiday destinations.

4. Contact newspapers to advertise new jobs.

5. Deal with complaints from customers.

6. 9.2

   Discuss sales figures with sales team.

Who’s who on this company board? Look at B opposite and complete the diagram.

My name’s Montebello and I’m president and CEO. We have some excellent people on our board, including two who are not involved in the day-to-day running of the company: Gomi and Jones.

My name’s Smith and it’s my job to look after the accounts and balance the books.

1. work closely with Chang and Roberts, as they tell me what their departments need for marketing and research, and I allocate them an annual budget.

My name’s Dawes and I head up personnel, on the same level in the company as Chang and Roberts.

HoH-e-Xe-C-ü-i-ive. dire.c.-{-or

Mon+e.be.llo

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If you work ...

Draw an organigram of your organization.

If you don't work ...

Who are the most famous bosses in your country? Which companies do they head?

Businesspeople and business leaders

A

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs

A businessman, businesswoman or businessperson is someone who works in their own business or as a manager in an organization.

Note: The plural of businessperson is businesspeople. Businessperson and businesspeople can also be spelled as two words: business person, business people.

An entrepreneur is someone who starts or founds or establishes their own company. Someone who starts a company is its founder. An entrepreneur may found a series of companies or start-ups. Entrepreneurial is used in a positive way to describe the risk-taking people who do this, and their activities. Some entrepreneurs leave the companies they found, perhaps going on to found more companies. Others may stay to develop and grow their businesses.

Note: Found is a regular verb. Past tense and past participle: founded.

Establishment can also describe an action (e.g. the establishment of a successful business was his main aim in life).

I

B

Some English speakers believe it is not correct to use grow as a transitive verb in this context.

Leaders and leadership

A large company mainly owned by one person or family is a business empire.

Successful businesspeople, especially heads of large organizations, are business leaders or, in journalistic terms, captains of industry.

There is a lot of discussion about whether people like this are born property with leadership skills, or whether such skills can be learned.

shipping

Magnates, moguls and tycoons

People in charge of big business empires may be referred to, especially by journalists, as magnates, moguls or tycoons. These words often occur in combinations such as these:

press

C

media press shipping oil	magnate
movie
media	• mogul
shipping	I
property	L «
software	h- tycoon

Use words from A and B opposite to complete this text.

The big place at the moment for (1) is, of course, the Internet. Take

John Pace. ‘After an engineering degree at Stanford and an MBA at Harvard, I worked for a

while in a computer games company. But I always felt I was an (2)

kind of guy. In 1997,1(3) an Internet site for cheap travel: flights, hotels, renting

cars and so on. I obtained money for investment in the (4) - from friends.’

Now the site has 300,000 customers, and Pace is very rich, with a big apartment in Manhattan and a house in the Bahamas. ‘I don’t want to sell the company,’ he says. ‘I’ve had offers from

some big companies, but I want to stay independent. I want to (5) the business and do

things my way.

Unlike many entrepreneurs, I think I have the (6) skills to lead and inspire a

10.2

large organization. I can see the day when I’m in charge of a large business (7) .’

Who are (or were) these famous businesspeople?

a Randolph Hearst (1863-1951)

Use the expressions in C opposite to describe them.

b Masayoshi Son ^c ,^R_u^uP^ert Murdoch

+^(b.1957) ‘^b1931)

d Aristotle Onassis (1906-1975)

e Paul Getty (1892-1976)

f Donald Trump (b. 1946)

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Who are your country's most famous entrepreneurs? What are they famous for? In your opinion, are business leaders born or made?

Organizations 1

Business and businesses

Business is the activity of producing, buying and selling goods and services. A business, company, firm or more formally, a concern, sells goods or services. Large companies considered together are referred to as big business.

A company may be called an enterprise, especially to emphasize its risk-taking nature.

Businesses vary in size, from the self-employed person working alone, through the small or medium enterprise (SME) to the large multinational with activities in several countries.

A large company, especially in the US, is a corporation. The adjective, corporate, is often used in these combinations:

• corporate culture ■ corporate headquarters ■ corporate image

• corporate ladder ■ corporate logo ■ corporate profits

Commerce

Commerce is used to refer to business:

• in relation to other fields: ‘literature, politics and commerce’.

• in relation to government departments that deal with business: the US Department of Commerce.

• in the names of organizations which help business: chambers of commerce.

• on the Internet: electronic commerce or e-commerce.

The adjective commercial describes money-making business activities:

• commercial airline ■ commercial artist ■ commercial television

• commercial disaster ■ commercial land

You can’t say a commerce.

Enterprise

In 1970s Britain, there were state-owned or government-owned companies in many different industries such as car manufacturing and air travel. Some industries had been nationalized and were entirely state-owned, such as coal, electricity and telephone services. In the 1980s, the government believed that nationalized companies were bureaucratic and inefficient, and many of them were privatized and sold to investors.

Enterprise is used in a positive way to talk about business, emphasizing the use of money to take risks.

Word combinations with 'enterprise'

free 1 private J	enterprise	business activity owned by individuals, rather than the state
	culture	an atmosphere which encourages people to make money through their own activities and not rely on the government
enterprise <	economy	an economy where there is an enterprise culture
	zone	part of a country where business is encouraged because there are fewer laws, lower taxes, etc.

Correct the mistakes using words and expressions from A opposite.

1. 11.1

   Before we employ people, we like to put them in job situations to see how they do the work and fit into the corporate ladder.

2. The company has built a grand corporate logo as a permanent symbol of its power.

3. Our stylish new corporate culture shows our wish to be seen as a more international airline.

4. The economy is growing and corporate headquarters are rising.

5. The rules were introduced to protect women working in factories, but today they make it harder for women to climb the corporate image.

6. Companies hit by computer crime are not talking about it because they fear the publicity will harm their corporate profits.

11.2

Someone is talking about the word combinations in B opposite. Which are they referring to each time?

1. It carries passengers and goods, it’s not military.

2. It’s going to be used for offices and factories, not houses.

3. It receives no money from the state to make its programmes.

4. He does advertisements: you can’t find his work in art galleries.

5. It was an artistic success, but unfortunately it lost a lot of money.

11.3

Use expressions from D opposite to complete this text.

Margaret Thatcher often talked about the benefits of (1)

or (2) She said that her achievement was to establish an

3. in Britain, an economy where people were

encouraged to start their own companies and where it was acceptable to get rich through

business: an (4)

In some areas, the government reduced the number of laws and regulations to encourage businesses to move there. Businesses were encouraged to set up in the London Docklands, for example. The Docklands were an (5)

Ov&r +o upu

Is the public sector in your country very big? Do people who work in it have good working conditions compared to those in the private sector?

In your country, which of these industries are in the public sector, and which are in the private sector? Which have been privatized?

• bus transport • electricity supply • postal services

• rail transport • telephone services • water supply

Organizations 2

Self-employed people and partnerships

Sole owner and sole proprietor are also used both in BrE and AmE. Sole trader is not used in the US.

I’m a freelance graphic designer, a freelancer.

That means I work for myself - I’m self-employed.

To use the official term, I’m a sole trader.

Note: You usually describe people such as designers and journalists as freelancers, and people such as builders and plumbers as self-employed. (See Unit 7)

We have set up our own architecture partnership. There are no shareholders in the organization apart from us, the partners. A lot of professional people like lawyers, accountants and so on, work in partnerships.

Limited liability

I’m the managing director and main shareholder of a small electronics company in Scotland called Advanced Components Ltd. ‘Ltd’ means limited company. The other shareholders and I have limited liability: we do not have to use our personal property, such as a house or car, to pay the company’s debts.

I’m the chief executive of a British company called Megaco PLC. ‘PLC’ means public limited company, so anybody can buy and sell shares in Megaco on the stock market. (See Unit 36)

I’m CEO of Bigbucks Inc. ‘Inc’ stands for Incorporated. This shows that we are a corporation, a term used especially in the US for companies with limited liability.

Mutuals

Some companies, like certain life insurance companies, are mutuals. When you buy insurance with the company you become a member. Profits are theoretically owned by the members, so there are no shareholders.

In Britain, another kind of mutual is building societies, which lend money to people who want to buy a house. But a lot of building societies have demutualized: they have become public limited companies with shareholders.

This process is demutualization.

Non-profit organizations

Organizations with ‘social’ aims such as helping those who are sick or poor, or encouraging artistic activity, are non-profit organizations (BrE) or not-for-profit organizations (AmE). They are also called charities, and form the voluntary sector, as they rely heavily on volunteers (unpaid workers). They are usually managed by paid professionals, and they put a lot of effort into fund-raising, getting people to donate money to the organization in the form of donations.

Look at the words in A and B opposite. What type of organization is each of these?

1. 12.1

   A group of engineers who work together to provide consultancy and design services. There are no outside shareholders.

2. A large British engineering company with 30,000 employees. Its shares are bought and sold on the stock market.

3. An American engineering company with outside shareholders.

4. An engineer who works by herself providing consultancy. She works from home and visits clients in their offices.

5. 12.2

   An independent British engineering company with 20 employees. It was founded by three engineers, who are shareholders and directors of the company. There are five other shareholders who do not work for the company.

Complete this newspaper article with the correct form of the words from C

opposite. One expression is used twice.

There were angry scenes at

the Suffolk (2)

’s annual meeting as

the society’s (3)

rejected by two to one a recommendation from its board

ANGRY SCENES AS MEMBERS REJECT

(1)

that the society be (4)

Members had travelled from all over the country to attend the meeting in London. The Suffolk’s chief executive, Mr Andrew Davies, said ‘This is a sad day for the Suffolk. We need to

5. to bring the

society forward into the 21st century. Our own resources are not enough and we need capital from outside shareholders.’

Gwen Armstrong, who has saved with the Suffolk for 32 years said, ‘Keeping

6. ) status is a

great victory. Profits should stay with us, and not go to outside shareholders.’ ■

1. 2.3 Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings (a-e). The sentences all contain expressions from D opposite.

1. British companies donate around £500 million a year to charities

2. She organized fund-raising

3. Voluntary sector employees earn five to ten per cent

4. Non-profit organizations are not to be confused

5. Research shows that volunteers give the best service

a with loss-making companies! b in cash and, increasingly, as goods, services and time, c parties for the charity, d when they are helping people in their own social class, e less than they would in the private sector.

Is self-employment common in your country? Does the government encourage it? Name some mutual companies. What sort of reputation do they have?

Are charities important? Which are the most active in your country?

Manufacturing and services